In conventional systems, advertisements are often associated and displayed with media content. As media content has evolved to include audio, video and interactive content or applications, so have the advertisements. Advertisements now include many of the features associated with the various types of media content.
The more complex an advertisement becomes, the more bandwidth is required to transmit the advertisement. Bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it (kilobits/s, megabits/s, etc.). As media content and advertisements must share the amount of bandwidth, the transmission of the increasingly complex advertisements often conflicts with the transmission of media content. Furthermore, the amount of available bandwidth may change instantaneously, resulting in a slow down, or lack of, transmission of both the advertisement and the media content.
This is particularly troublesome when streaming media content and advertisements. If the transmission is interrupted due to lack of bandwidth, the advertisement or media content may experience breaks in the continuity of its presentation (e.g., creating jumps and pauses). Pausing the presentation, even for a short time, may cause the user to lose interest in the media and abandon its viewing.